Love and Death Don't Mix
by Yuki Tomoyo
Summary: On Mikan's first day in Alice Academy, she encountered a mysterious crimson eyed lad who went missing after he had shown her the way to the assembly hall. Eventually, she had learned that the room where she had met the boy was locked. No one had ever entered it for over a decade or so. So, she was debating whether the boy was real or just a product of her imagination.
1. Chapter 1

**Hiii. This is another story of mine. Don't worry, I'll still update my other stories. I actually have exams tomorrow. I know that I should be reviewing right now but I'm in the mood to write. I have so many ideas going through my mind and I think if I didn't write it, my mind might explode. Lol.**

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**Mystery 1: Weird**

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"Five minutes left!"

A fifteen year old auburn haired lass was running frantically along the long and wide hallways of Alice Academy. The girl had big amber eyes, a heart-shaped face with a small nose, fair skin, petite figure and an average height. It was her first day on her new school yet it was already a disaster for she had awakened late, though it was not her first time waking up late in the morning.

"Ugh! Where is the stupid assembly hall?!" she shouted out of frustration.

She had arrived at her new school about ten minutes ago and was still wandering for she couldn't find her destination.

"Why didn't even I ask for directions? I'm so stupid."

She smacked her forehead with her right palm lightly. Too bad, she only had thought of that idea a little too late. The hallway where she was currently standing was deserted. Not a single soul could be found, or so she thought.

She was now walking, still searching for her destination. She wasn't in a hurry anymore for she was already late so she couldn't care less. While walking, she came upon a door with a sign that had the words "Authorized Personnel Only" encrypted on it.

Thinking that she might find someone to ask for directions, she knocked on the door. There was no answer so she knocked again yet she was still met with silence. Shrugging, she twisted the doorknob and found it unlocked so she just entered.

Upon entering the small room, she was welcomed by the sight of cobwebs hanging on the ceiling and dusts everywhere. The room smelled old, like it wasn't used for a very long time. On the center, there was a long big 'thing' which was covered with a dusty white linen. Out of curiosity, she removed the linen and found a clean and shiny mirror. She found it odd to see an ancient yet brand new-looking mirror in the middle of an abandoned room.

She stood in front of the mirror and studied her appearance. Then, she noticed that her stockings weren't the same; one was white while the other was black.

'Oh great. Stupid me. I wore the wrong pair. No wonder people were looking at me weirdly a while ago.' she thought.

She bent down and removed both of her stockings then put them on her shoulder bag. Once she stood up again, her eyes widened and she jumped out of shock.

"W-W-Wha-t a-a-re y-you doing he-re?" she asked the boy who was standing in front of her.

When she had stood, still facing the mirror, she saw a raven haired lad standing behind her. She quickly turned around to look at the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen. He has fair skin and a very well-built body. There were earrings attached on each of his ears; a gold plate with dragon carvings on the right and a red ball like it was made of blood crystals on the left. He was wearing a uniform but not the academy's uniform. The weirdest thing that the girl noticed about him was his eyes. They were crimson. Never in her life had she seen a person with an eye color the same as his.

"Are you wearing contact lenses?" she blurted her thoughts, suddenly forgetting her earlier question.

The lad chuckled and gave her an amused look.

"Why are you here?" the lad asked.

"Answer my question first." The girl demanded.

"No." the guy simply said.

"Really? I doubt that's natural." She narrowed her eyes.

The boy rolled his crimson eyes and repeated his question.

"What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question."

"You shouldn't be here."

"Why? I can be wherever I want and it's not like this is your territory. By the looks of it, it doesn't seem like you work here because if I am right, you're about the same age as me or a year older. Plus, you're wearing a different uniform." She pointed her finger on the lad's uniform to prove her statement.

"I suggest you go."

"You're not my father so you don't have the right to tell me what to do." The girl replied stubbornly.

The boy sighed. "Don't you know this place?"

"Of course I know! This place is an old storage room."

The lad cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"It seems like you're new here." he said.

"Yes and it seems like you're always sneaking in here. How did you even get in? The security here is very strict. Oh whatever. I don't care anyway. Since you seem to think that this is your territory, would you show me where the assembly hall is? I'm really late for the welcoming-of-the-new-students-and-the-new-school-y ear thing." she said.

The boy didn't reply. Instead, he turned around and went outside the door. The girl decided to follow him. After a good five minutes, they finally arrived in front of the big mahogany doors of the assembly hall.

A blonde boy with light blue eyes came running towards the girl.

"Mikan!"

The lass turned and was met by the blonde boy's hug.

"Ruka."

"You're late. I thought that you would skip your first day of school." he said once he had released her.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to. I was just a bit lost." she said. "But someone helped me get here."

"Who?" Ruka asked.

"Him." She turned around and was surprised that the boy was gone.

"I think he just left." She shrugged.

"But I was searching for you a while ago and saw you while you were on your way here. You weren't with anyone. You were alone." Ruka explained.

"Huh?" Mikan cocked a delicate brow.

"Where did you meet this guy?" he asked.

"At an old storage room." She answered.

"On the west wing?" Ruka asked once again.

"Uh, I think so." Mikan replied.

This time, it was the boy's turn to cock an eyebrow.

"Mikan, are you sure? That storage room was locked ever since I came in the academy which was three years ago."

"Yes, I'm sure. It wasn't locked. I wouldn't be able to get in if it was, right?"

"But no one was able to come inside because they don't have the key, even the academy doesn't have it. Besides, no one even dared to go near that room." He said seriously.

"Why?"

"Because it's rumored that it is haunted." he replied and looked at the girl's confused look.

"Maybe you're just nervous and hallucinating things. Come on. We should get inside." Ruka invited.

Mikan was about to argue but decided to drop it. They went back and came inside the hall. The pair found two available chairs and sat there. The principal of the academy was beginning his speech but Mikan wasn't paying any attention to him. She was physically present but her mind was wandering. She was thinking about something or rather someone. She was 100% sure that the mysterious crimson eyed lad that she had met earlier was real. She felt stupid yet again that she forgot to ask his name.

There was only one word that was coming across her mind that moment.

'Weird.'

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	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all those lovely people who reviewed, followed and added this story to their favorites! You will all be blessed! :D**

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**Mystery 2: No Longer Alone**

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"Hey guys, what do you know about the old storage room at the west wing?" asked a lovely auburn-haired girl.

She, together with her two new friends, was currently settled on a table in the cafeteria, eating their lunches.

"What? You don't know anything about it?!" Koko, a boy with spiky blonde hair, asked or more like shouted while throwing her an are-you-serious look.

"Well, duh. She's new here." Anna stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that." He scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.

The pink-haired lass rolled her blue eyes and answered her friend's question.

"It is rumored to be haunted by a gorgeous boy. Someone had told me that a student had entered that room once. It was said that the student found a big mirror there and then the boy appeared. The boy possessed strikingly beautiful features like that of a god, as the student had described."

Mikan was quite surprised to hear what her friend said. The events were exactly what had happened to her.

"But suddenly, the once handsome boy turned into a scary beast." Koko interfered. "His eyes turned into slits like that of a cat's. His ears became pointed. His teeth became long sharp fangs and his fingernails grew long. His body broadened and he became taller. His skin turned into a purple shade and large veins popped out. His hair also became long he put Rapunzel into shame."

"Koko! Stop that! You're scaring me!" Anna pouted.

"It's obviously a bluff." Mikan said confidently. "I mean, who would believe such a sophisticated lie?"

"She's right! It's obviously a lie!" Anna agreed.

"But you got scared." Koko teased and the girl glared at him.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry." He said while holding both of his hands up in surrender. He leaned closer to the girl and said, "Look deep into my eyes and accept my sincere apology. Also, notice my handsome manly features." He narrowed his eyes and tried to look seductive but failed miserably.

"How about I destroy that rotten potato you call of a face?"

Just when Anna was about to attack him, Mikan shouted, "Anna! Stop it, please."

"Hmp. You're lucky that Mikan saved your ass." She hissed at the grinning boy sitting in front of her. The boy stuck out his tongue childishly and grinned even wider.

"Why you-" Anna started.

"Guys!" Mikan shouted, this time with more force. "Seriously, we're at the cafeteria and people would appreciate it if they will be able to eat peacefully without being disturbed by this impending little war of yours."

"Did you hear her?" Anna looked at Koko.

He nodded and replied, "She said little."

"I think our friend here is misunderstanding something."

"Yeah." He agreed.

"Mikan, our wars never had been little." Anna said and faced Koko with a sinister grin. "Let's show her the real war."

The girl lost all of her innocent features and was replaced by a whole lot new scary personality. She started chasing Koko, who was still grinning, unaffected with a killer on the loose. Anna grabbed some food from a random table and threw it at Koko. The lad dodged it smoothly.

"You missed." He shouted and laughed.

Anna continued to chase after him. Soon, the two stopped, a table was between them. Anna turned to her right to catch Koko but he turned left swiftly, avoiding any physical contact. The girl turned left and the lad did otherwise. Eventually, Anna grew frustrated and threw the plate of food that she was holding straight at her target but Koko dodge it yet again. Unfortunately, the plate of food had found a new target and landed on it. The target was no other than Sumire Shouda, the most popular and hottest girl in the academy who was known for being a bitch.

Everyone inside the cafeteria gasped in shock.

"Oh my gosh Sumi!" Sumire's friend, Nonoko, shouted in horror and immediately handed her a handkerchief.

"WHO DID THIS?!" she shouted in rage after wiping the spaghetti off of her uniform.

Everyone looked at Anna. Some felt pity on her for they knew her life would be miserable from then on. Anyone who defied the Queen Bee will never get to live a normal life much more when they had thrown spaghetti at her.

Anna slowly raised her hand nervously. Sumire's furious eyes turned to her which made Anna even more nervous.

"You-" Sumire started but was cut off when Koko bursted out laughing. Everyone looked at him like he had gone insane.

"The spaghetti looks perfect on you Shouda." He said while wiping the tears that had formed on his eyes.

Rather than being angry with the boy's comment, Sumire's face flushed a little but she immediately covered it with a smirk. She started walking towards the boy.

"Well if you really think that it looks perfect on me," she paused as she was now standing in front of the lad. She then wrapped her arms around him and encased him into a tight hug. After a few seconds, she released him.

"Now that you also got some spaghetti sauce on your uniform, it also looked perfect on you." She smirked then put her finger on her chin as if thinking of something. "Now that I think about it, you and I looked perfect with the spaghetti. Therefore, we look perfect for each other right?" She winked at him flirtatiously and walked away with Nonoko, leaving a flushed Koko behind.

Everyone was gaping. Never once had they seen their Queen Bee pay any attention to any boys much more flirt with them. Sure, they had seen Sumire always go near Koko but that was always for bullying. And now, they were beyond confused about the scene that they had just witnessed. Was it a new form of bullying?

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Ruka was waiting outside Mikan's classroom. The bell rung, signaling the end of classes. Students started to walk out of their classrooms. They were surprised to see the prince charming of the academy standing on their hallway, as if waiting for someone. In time, Mikan went outside with Anna and Koko.

"Mikan!" Ruka waved his hand and ran towards the girl.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, a bit surprised.

"What else? I'm taking you home, just like old times." He grinned.

Everyone gaped. Here they were, witnessing the most popular guy in their academy offering an unknown girl for a ride home. Ruka Nogi wasn't a snob. He was friendly to any girl and treated them with equal affection but he never entertained girls much more ask them out.

What was happening to their two most prominent persons in school? Had they eaten something to upset their stomachs that they had an appetite for common people or was the food contaminated with an uncertain substance that made their brain malfunction?

Mikan turned and smiled at her friends. "Sorry, guys. I'm afraid I cannot come with you. Ruka-pyon will take me home."

"Seriously, Mimi. Stop calling me with that nickname." Ruka protested.

"But it's cute and I like it! Besides, you just called me by my nickname too." she replied.

"Uh, what are you guys exactly?" Koko asked, now recovering from the shock.

"We're childhood friends!" Mikan happily exclaimed. Ruka's expression turned sad but immediately hid it with a sweet smile but this didn't go unnoticed by Anna.

"Well then, we should probably be going. Mr. Jinno wouldn't be happy if we were late for detention. Take care!" Anna dragged Koko away.

Anna and Koko got detention for the uproar they had caused earlier at the cafeteria. Luckily, they had just received detention as their punishment.

"So, let's go?" Ruka smiled and Mikan nodded. The two walked away, oblivious to the attention that they were attracting.

"I didn't know that Nogi-kun has a childhood friend and a girl at that." a dirty-blonde boy said to the girl who was standing beside her. The boy was wearing glasses which covered his brown eyes while the girl had jet black hair and a pair of purple eyes.

The aforementioned girl didn't respond. She just pushed her square glasses up the bridge of her nose and walked away while her companion silently followed her.

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"Um, you know, we had been together ever since we were little and we know every little secret there is about each other right?" Ruka started.

He was walking along the hallways with Mikan, on their way to the front gates of the academy where his chauffeur was waiting for him.

"Hm."

"I was thinking if we could… you know, change it to a different level." Ruka paused and looked at the girl beside him to see her reaction. He sighed when he saw that she seemed like she wasn't listening so he put both of his hands on her shoulders, spun her around so she was facing him and looked deeply into her big amber eyes.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he dropped the bomb.

"Hm." was all her reply.

"Really?" The blonde asked, obviously surprised. He wasn't really expecting a quick yes or rather a "Hm" which is considered as a "yes" right?

"Hm." was Mikan's answer yet again. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts about the boy in the storage room to hear what her childhood friend was saying.

"Um, I think I forgot something in our classroom." She lied.

She was already running when she turned and shouted, "You go first. Don't wait for me. I'll go home by myself." She quickly disappeared, leaving a confused blonde boy.

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Maybe she had gotten crazy or had eaten something that made her act like this. Whatever the reason was, she didn't know.

Mikan was standing in front of the locked door of the storage room after she had run and left Ruka. She just can't stop thinking about the mysterious crimson-eyed boy. The picture of his perfect face kept on popping on her mind. She wanted so desperately to forget about him but she just couldn't. There's this feeling inside of her that made her want to meet the boy again.

She was now trying to unseal the chains that were binding the doorknob firmly but failed in every way. First, she had tried the key of her secret box at home but it didn't fit for it was too small. Second, she had kicked the door which only caused her to wince in pain. Next, she searched for anything that is metal and found a fire extinguisher but ended up with the same results. Heck, she even tried to chant a self-made ritual with an "open sesame" on the end of the chant but it still didn't work.

"Ugh! This is so infuriating!" she shouted and tousled her hair a bit.

Suddenly, she heard a soft chuckle and on the corner of her right eye, she could see a dark figure standing a few meters away from her. She turned, only to be met by a dark hallway. Surely, she wasn't imagining things right? Then, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned, only in time to see a figure hiding behind a wall and it walked away. Out of curiosity, she followed it. The figure, which she couldn't see clearly because of the dark, entered a dim room. Once she had entered the same room, lights began to illuminate the place and the door, where she had came in, closed abruptly. She didn't run to the door and tried to open it just like any other normal person would do nor did she turn around when she heard the door closed. Instead, she just stood there on her ground, not even breaking a sweat.

"I know you're in here." She said in a loud voice.

After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "Show yourself."

"You're no fun at all." The lad appeared behind her.

"I didn't come here to entertain you." She retorted.

"Why are you here then?" he asked.

"I- uh.." she paused for a moment, thinking for an answer. She really didn't know why she was here. Instead of answering his question, she replied with another question. "Are you a ghost?"

"What if I told you I am? Will you be scared?"

"No. You're not scary at all. Besides, you're too handsome to be scary." She shrugged.

"So you admit that you find me attractive?" He smirked.

"If it'll only make you even more arrogant, I take it back." she remarked. She could never believe why she had thought about the guy when all he was, was a conceited jerk.

"But you already said it. There's no way you could take it back." he countered.

"Just answer the damn question!" she snapped.

"I already answered it."

"With another question?"

"But you also answered my question earlier with another question."

A vein popped on Mikan's head. "This is getting us nowhere."

"Glad you know." He said.

Mikan massaged her temples and took a large amount of air in attempt to calm her nerves.

"I'm leaving." She finally said and started to walk towards the door.

"I am." The boy spoke abruptly.

"What?" she turned and raised a delicate brow.

"I am a ghost. But I don't haunt people."

"Oh." was her only reply. She didn't really know what to say now that her speculations were confirmed.

"Then, why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting on the other side?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"That's the thing. I couldn't seem to pass through. Something's tying me here." He answered.

"When did you die?"

"I don't know."

"Why?"

"I don't remember anything."

"Even your name?"

The lad shook his head and looked rather lonely. Mikan immediately felt pity on him.

"Hm." The girl hummed, placing her finger under her chin. "I think we should find the cause of your death. Your soul might not be in peace therefore, you cannot go to the other side because you're seeking for answers or revenge."

"How will we do that when I don't remember anything?" the boy asked.

"We could start by finding your body. If my conclusion is correct, your body will be just around the school because your soul is here."

The boy nodded in understanding.

"Anyway, am I the only one who can see you?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah. I guess so." He replied.

"Well then, let's start with the introductions. I'm Mikan Sakura. You can call me Mikan." She smiled.

"Ugly suits you more." The boy commented and Mikan glared at him.

"Whatever. I'll be giving you a name." she decided.

"I'm not a pet."

"I didn't say you are. You're getting the wrong idea. I just want you to have a name so I can call you by that name or would you rather prefer to be called Mr. Arrogant Egotistical Jerk?"

The boy shrugged. Mikan put her finger on her chin once again, in deep thought.

"How about Drake?"

"Do I look like a male duck to you?"

"No, I mean Drak." She corrected.

The crimson eyed lad raised his brow.

"It means darkness, a ghost-like creature." She explained.

"No." he said firmly.

"Scarlet?"

"That's a girl's name."

"Crimson?"

"That's not even a name."

"How about Corben?" Mikan suggested.

"Where the hell did you get that?" the boy wrinkled his nose in disapproval.

"Hey! It means raven-haired. Speaking of, what do you think about Raven?" she asked.

The boy just shrugged.

"Then it's decided! You're name is Raven." She happily exclaimed and finally remembered that it was already running late. She glanced at her wristwatch and her eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh! It's almost seven! I still have assignments to do and my family would be worried!" She shouted and started for the door.

"I need to go now. I'll come back here tomorrow. Bye Ray!" she waved and ran outside.

The lad flinched at the nickname the girl had given him but despite that, the corner of his lips went upward for the girl had said that she would be coming back. He will no longer be alone. Oh, he was so looking forward to tomorrow.

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**I'm really sorry for the almost-a-century-update.**

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